


Written In The Cards

by Quinn_Coveswena



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - This World Inverted (Shadowhunters TV), Canon Compliant, Chaotic Bisexual Magnus Bane, Confident Alec Lightwood, Freudian Slip, Inspired by Art, Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Canon, Tarot, aka getting called out by a deck of cards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 21:04:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20712503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinn_Coveswena/pseuds/Quinn_Coveswena
Summary: A few days after the events of 'This World Inverted,' AU!Alec shows up to AU!Magnus' looking to have an appointment with the psychic.





	Written In The Cards

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this artwork by the incredible Mavitomo: [Card Reading](https://twitter.com/mavitomo/status/1174441601260752897?s=20)
> 
> Fun story: This one-shot has also doubled as a writing assignment for one of my classes. So take joy in knowing that, despite me changing most names in the teacher-friendly version of this, my professor is going to be reading Malec fanfiction. I know that I sure am.
> 
> Also, I did all of the research and wrote all of this last night, finishing at 2 a.m. And this work is un-beta-d. So please forgive me for any dumb errors that may exist.

Several days had passed since the night of the party. Using the portal that still left Magnus in disbelief he’d been able to make, Clary and Jace had successfully made it back to their dimension. And now that he’d gotten his magic back again, Magnus felt more alive than he had in centuries. 

Being that it had been a few hundred years, however, he was admittedly still a bit rusty and in need of some serious practice. He was doing just that, casting a spell to clean up the cat hair left behind by his feline companions that always seemed to rapidly accumulate underfoot when he heard a knock at the door. ‘ _ Weird _ ,’ he thought. He wasn’t expecting a client. Upon answering the door, however, his heart stopped.

Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome who had been responsible for getting Magnus into the party in the first place, despite not having his name on the list grinned at him from where he leaned propped against the door frame. “Hello again,” Alec purred. “Do you take walk-ins?”

Magnus felt the color rise to his cheeks. “How-how did you know where to find me?”

Alec's smile faltered slightly. “Uh, your T.V. commercial?”

‘_Oh God_,’ Magnus thought in horror. That commercial was so cringy. “R-right,” he sputtered. “Of course.” He and Alec stared at a moment before he remembered Alec’s original question. “Oh right! Um, walk-ins. Yeah. Uh, yeah I do those. I can do you.” Magnus’ eyes went wide in horror as he realized how that sounded. “Not...I didn’t mean...Just-” Realizing he was in peak chaotic-bisexual mode and would only make things worse the more he tried to fix them, Magnus groaned and waved Alec inside before burying his face in his hands. He just managed to catch the smirk on Alec's face as he stepped into the apartment as he did so and screamed internally accordingly.

“Nice place you got here,” Alec called out, now behind Magnus further into the loft. “It’s really cozy. Cute. And I totally had you pegged as a cat person. Glad to see I was right.” His voice was as charming as it had been during their brief first-encounter, and Magnus needed to take another moment to compose himself and salvage any dignity he had left. 

“Yeah,” he croaked out in response before clearing his throat and trying again. “I, uh, actually have two of them.” Magnus turned towards Alec before continuing. “Chairman Meow, who is the best cat ever and I make no exceptions, and Church, who is a grumpy asshole.” As if in response, Church made a noise that sounded much like one of protest from where he lay curled up on the couch next to a pillow that had his name embroidered on it. Magnus threw the cat a sideways look of annoyance, rolled his eyes, and focused his attention back on Alec.

“Do you want any tea or anything?” he asked, making an attempt at professional courtesy.

“No thank you,” Alec refused politely. “After that trippy Alice In Wonderland themed party the other night, I don’t want to look at another teacup again for a while.”

Chuckling, Magnus nodded in agreement. “I don’t blame. I suppose we had better get to business then. What would you like from me today? I’m assuming you aren’t going to want me to read your tea leaves.”

Alec laughed, a sound that quickly became one of Magnus’ favorite things the world had to offer, and continued perusing all of the mystical and fantastical items Magnus had out on display. Most of the stuff was to go along with Magnus’ whole psychic schtick, but a few items were legit, some going back to the time before warlocks all went underground and started blending in amongst everyday humans. “I don’t actually know,” Alec admitted, looking over his shoulder towards Magnus, “but I have some ideas.” His gaze flickered up and down and Magnus felt the color return to his cheeks of its own volition. 

“How uh,” he managed to squeak out, “How about a tarot card reading. It’s pretty standard. I can walk you through it.” 

He took a moment to think it over, but nodded in agreement and took a seat at the large table in the middle of the room. Magnus made his way over too, stopping to retrieve his box of tarot cards from their place on his shelf, and finally coming to sit across from Alec. Opening the ornate box, Magnus took out the block of antique-looking cards (which in fact they were) and set them on the table. He also handed a laminated pamphlet that had already been sitting on the table across to Alec. “Here is a list of the different spreads I can do,” he explained. “Pick one and then we’ll get started.”

Alec read over the options before stopping on one, smirking, and sliding the pamphlet back towards Magnus with his finger resting on the one he had selected. “Let’s go with this one,” he suggested with an air of nonchalance. Magnus looked down to where Alec's long finger was firmly pressed above the words  _ Coming Love Interest _ . He swallowed hard. Man, this guy was not subtle at all.

Nodding, Magnus picked the block of cards back up and set them down closer to Alec. “Shuffle these up until you feel as though you’ve done a good job,” he instructed. “Then, lay them out in front of you. Alec did as he was told and soon sat with the cards fanned out face down in front of him. “Okay,” continued Magnus, “now you’re going to pick a total of twelve cards. Then, without looking, you’re going to arrange them in a sort of upside-down pyramid facing you. Five cards go along the top, four cards in the next row, two underneath that, and the twelfth card alone at the bottom.

“How do I know which ones to pick?” Alec asked, not bothering or forgetting to put on the charm.

Magnus smiled. “Pick whichever ones feel as though they call to you.”

After that, Alec studied the cards intently before making his selections. He set them up in the spread Magnus had described, occasionally turning certain cards so that they were reversed, yet remained face-down. “So what exactly do all of these positions mean?” Alec asked once he finished.

Magnus smiled. This was his time to shine. “The first five are read together. They tell you what your future partner will be like: who they are, their job, their best side, and their flaws. Six and nine are also read together. They tell you your partner’s first impression of you and your emotional connection with them. Seven and eight are vice-versa. Ten and eleven, which are the strengths and weaknesses of the relationship can balance each other out, so these two cards too can be read together. Finally, the last card tells you the long-term potential of the relationship.” As he finished, Magnus smiled, feeling quite proud of himself and the look of wonder and fascination on Alec’s face. 

After staring into each other’s eyes for a moment, Alec blinked, cleared his throat, and set about flipping over the cards in the spread. So captivated by watching Alec’s face as he took in the cards in front of him, Magnus didn’t actually pay any attention to the ones he flipped over until Alec had finished and looked up at him expectantly. Blushing once more at having been caught staring, Magnus looked down at the table to avoid the other man’s gaze. The color quickly faded, however, when he saw what was written in the cards.

  1. The Hermit, Reversed- a misfit, a loner, someone removed from society.
  2. The Magician (now this one was just a cosmic joke)
  3. Strength- strength, courage, persuasion, influence, compassion.
  4. Judgment, Reversed- self-doubt, inner-critic.
  5. Knight of Pentacles, Reversed- conservative, boring, not flashy or drawing attention.
  6. Queen of Wands- courage, confidence, independence, social butterfly, determination.
  7. Ace of Cups- love, new relationships, choices.
  8. Two of Cups- unified love, partnership, mutual attraction.
  9. The Lovers- love, harmony, relationships, choices.
  10. The Nine of Wands- resilience, courage, persistence.
  11. High Priestess, Reversed- secrets, withdrawal and silence.
  12. Seven of Pentacles- long-term view, sustainable results, perseverance, investment.

“It’s…” Alec began, looking at Magnus with wide eyes and a large, genuine smile lighting up his entire face. “Me,” Magnus finished, a deep red having replaced his pallor. 

Reaching across the table, Alec set his hand on top of Magnus’. “Can I read your palm?” he asked, lacing their fingers together. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so very much for taking the time to read this. For those of you following my other work, I am still working on "Broken Like Me," however I am very, VERY busy with school, so progress on chapters for that story is slow-going. I could potentially write shorter chapters and be able to upload those more frequently whenever I get the time, but I don't know when I'd get around to uploading if I continue to write out long ones. Please let me know what you'd prefer!
> 
> I love you all. Please be kind to one another and be good people. <3


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